More effective use of aid for Rohingya refugees
With the plans for the immediate repatriation of Rohingya refugees deferred till 2019, Bangladesh and all the organisations working in Cox's Bazar need to come to some key decisions and a well-planned strategy. As civil society organisations and NGOs in Cox's Bazar pointed out on Sunday, the funding is inadequate and there is need for greater efficiency and transparency in the use of funds. And there can be no certainty about when exactly a safe repatriation of the refugees is possible—goodwill on the part of Myanmar in ensuring the conditions required has been lacking to say the least.
Even early this year, we had been hearing of how donor agencies were "losing interest" in providing assistance in this prolonged crisis. We wrote in February this year how such a compassion fatigue towards this issue could lead to further problems. In this aspect, the organisations' call for a more transparent process of aid use is crucial. They pointed out how money was being spent unnecessarily in some aspects. The 2018 Joint Response Plan specified that 25 percent of the aid was to be spent for the host community; there is no specific data on how much has been actually spent. With over 100 organisations working in Cox's Bazar, the importance of greater coordination cannot be overstressed. The Joint Response Plan for 2019 needs to take these factors into account as well as plan how the expected resources needed can be mobilised.
One important suggestion has been the training of locals for human resources improvement, which, given the impact of the crisis on the host community, could go a long way towards staving off any possible hostility. As we step into another year, alongside a well-planned strategy for responding to the conditions in the camps, it needs to dawn on the international community that without greater pressure, Myanmar is unlikely to improve the conditions needed for safe repatriation. Bangladesh, with the help of local and international organisations, has tried and succeeded in many aspects to provide for these refugees. But, the longer this goes on, the lesser are the chances of mobilising the needed international aid.
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